[Mannes on Marketing]

“There’s Two Sides to Every Story” —
The Ups and Downs of a Social Media Strategy

The double-edged sword. The flipside of the coin. Call it what you will, but no matter what you call it, the fact remains: for every upside, there is, inevitably, a downside.

Social media has become one of the hottest marketing commodities to date. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn…the list goes on and on. If one listens to the experts, we are now able to reach more customers and potential customers farther and faster, but at what cost? While you may just be dipping your toe into the “social media” waters, you need to know that it’s not enough anymore simply to be able to use social media; it’s now time to respond to it as well.

The potential risks with any marketing is not new, however social media marketing presents the opportunity to greatly amplify customers voices — the flipside of the coin. Previously, word-of-mouth functioned as our greatest way to reach new customers. The flip side is word-of-mouth can also be the biggest threat to our industry and your business. Statistics show that if we do a good job, your customer may tell five of her friends. Do a bad job and he/she tells many more — for up to 25 years! With social marketing, now, instead of five or even 25 people, this same person can reach five to 10 million other potential consumers.

A perfect example of social media marketing are the small groups of very vocal activists, people who may not understand the value of what we do as an industry, that carry a large voice because of social media outlets. It doesn’t mean it is a large number – but just a very large voice. Consider the United Airlines case where United apparently broke a gentleman’s guitar. He wrote a song about it; posted it on YouTube, United’s stock dropped and they fixed his problem. That’s just one example of one person with a loud voice in the new social media arena.

HOW TO DO IT. To survive the flip side of social media marketing, consider the following tips:

1. Stay focused. It’s far too easy today to become obsessed with “the next best thing.” When you’re busy looking around the corner, staying focused on the tasks and goals you’ve already set can become a challenge. By broadcasting these goals and initiatives over multiple social channel networks, you’re creating a new impetus to get things done. The consumer will remember the promises you made and the deadlines you’ve set.
2. Embrace your mistakes. In an industry dominated by family-owned companies, hearing criticism about job performance can be as painful as if it were your own child. The problem is, ignoring the bad reviews means bad behavior goes unchecked. While your company may have previously only viewed social media from the surface of the marketer, the time has come to get your feet wet. Explore the social networks and compile as many reviews as you can from the popular consumer Web sites. Keep in mind that many Internet users tend to abuse the power of free speech and anonymity. Try not to get bogged down in the unreasonably harsh reviews, but look for overall complaints such as timeliness, friendliness and service quality.
3. Then fix them. Once you know what areas need to be improved, create a plan to do just that. Once your plan is in place, return to step one. Knowing what people want is the golden egg of consumer marketing. If your company is always late, take a hint from the pizza industry and market your new on-time policy. When you fix the problems the consumer has, and then publicly announce such changes, not only are you bettering your company, but you’re also creating a dialogue with your customer.
4. Scope out the competition. Your company is not the only one being placed under the social media microscope. The same Web sites that review your products and services will, inevitably, do the same for other related companies. Use this to your advantage. Find out what these companies are doing that you’re not. You may not be able to uncover the new big trade secret, but you’ll certainly find out what benefits and goodies others are handing out. If you decide to implement any of these changes, head back to step one, and let the customers know.\
5. There’s no place like the homepage. Having a Twitter, Facebook and YouTube account is wonderful, but it’s not enough if you’re not linking them back to your homepage. While younger generations cruise the web, keep in mind that there are also many others who don’t know what Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are. One large downside of social media marketing is that your customers and potential customers have to be in these social media networks to receive the marketing.

FINAL THOUGHTS. You can help introduce them by including all of your various network links on your homepage. When used in conjunction with the many other forms of marketing, this one home address is all the customer will need to know in order to access your full array of advertising. And always remember, go back to step one — stay focused.

The author is chief marketing and strategy officer for Arrow Exterminators, Atlanta, and can be contacted at cmannes@giemedia.com.